In this step, we are going to add a offset hard shadow.This is something entirely different from putting outlines around the letter shapes.We are going to take a magic elixir type from this to this.So, this is the finished version.Here is where we're currently at.I still have my hidden characters shown from the previous step.I'm now going to hide those usingmy layers panel I'm going to select the magic elixir type and I'm going to copythat and then I'm going to press cmd + b to paste that copy behind the original.

With that copy still selected I'm going to convert it to outlines.Then I'm going to change the fill color of thoseoutlines, I'm going to use the same color as the background.Now so you can see what's going on here, I'm going to hide the top copy.So we're still seeing the top copy; I'll just hide it nowso that we can have a better idea of exactly what's going on.I'm now going to come to the Effects menu and to Stylize andchoose Drop Shadow.

Now the defaults are multiply with an opacity of 75% andan offset of seven points and a blur of five points.What you're currently seeing are the values that we actually want touse, but only because I just, in a practice run, set these values.But we need a blend mode of normal.And opacity of 100 and if I turn on my previewyou can see what that's going to get us.So it's just going to put a hard shadow around the letter shapes.

If you're following along with me and you'reusing a different font you may need tovary the offset amounts, both for the dropshadow effect And the position of the shadow type.If we now turn on the original, making sure that we have thelower version, the shadow itself selected.And then zoom in, I'm now going to offset the whole shape to the right and down.I'd like to make a few additional refinements to thisbecause there are a few things that we need to changeand this is why we converted the type to outlinesbecause so far everything that we've done we could have done.

And retain the typeas editable type, but for what we'd want to do next, it needs to be outlines.We don't want the shadow on the M and the E.They have their own separate treatment and also I would like to bring the shadow onthe dots on the I's a little bit closer to the dots themselves and possiblywe might want to also just adjust the, the shadow individuallyon a letter by letter basis.The X might be a case in point when we need to do that.

So if we twirl that group open and I expand my layers panel,we can see that we have a separate object for each of those letters.That's the M right there. I'm going to delete that one.And that'sthe A I'm going to delete that one, I'm now going totap A to go to my direct selection tool and zoomin and making sure that I don't do what Ijust did I can prevent that by locking the top copy.

I'm going to drag over just the dots and nudge that up and over.I'll do the same thing with the others.So this way, we can really customize how this shadow is attachedto the letters above. And that x is a case in point.So there we have a customized offset hard shadow.So that was applied using the Drop Shadow from theEffect menu but we changed the transparency, we changed the blur.So that it's not a soft drop shadow at all, then we converted theobject to outlines, so that we couldmodify the individual parts of that shadow.

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2/28/2014

Graphic design from the Victorian era (roughly 1837 to 1901) is embodied by its ornate, decorative elements, which seem to conflict with our more modern and restrained aesthetic. But the craftsmanship and elegance of these designs can still provide inspiration for your own. In this short course, designer Nigel French provides a historical background on Victorian type and then takes you through a step-by-step process to create a new design inspired by a nineteenth-century original. He shows how to choose period-appropriate typefaces and demonstrates Illustrator and Photoshop techniques applicable to any time frame, including skewed type paths, offset shadows, woodcut-style shading, framing devices, and texture.